"Do you support grassroots Conservative Party members retaining a vote in the final stage of future leadership elections?"
David Cameron: “Yes. I favour an electoral college system, but frankly feel that we have spent enough time in recent months discussing this issue. So I can’t promise that this will be the first act of a Cameron-led Conservative Party!”
David Davis: “It’s very important that a party that preaches about localism and accountability is seen to put those beliefs into practice in the way it selects its leader. There may be problems with the current system, but the answer is not to take the vote away from the membership but to come up with a solution that takes into account the views of all sections of the Party. I have suggested flipping the current system round as an alternative, but there are strong arguments for an electoral college. Generally, I believe we must be seen to be as open and democratic as possible. These are principles that must guide how we select our candidates as well as our leaders.”
Editor's Comment: "A scoop to end the day! I don't believe that DC has - until now - declared his position on the leadership process. It's good that he's in favour of members retaining a vote in the final stage of future leadership elections. It's a shame he didn't declare this view earlier and we might have been able to mount a more comprehensive defeat of Michael Howard's attempts to roll back party democracy. I don't much like the idea of an electoral college. It's not as open as what we have and goes against the one-member-one-vote principle. Ideally we'd be moving towards Theresa May's open primaries. Interesting to see DD now saying that an electoral college might be as good as 'flipping the process'. The Hague flip would give MPs the final say. With DC enjoying majority support of MPs it's, perhaps, not surprising that Mr Davis no longer has such a high view of his colleagues' views! The Dave-O-Meter goes to bed showing this question drawn. Both want democracy retained. The flipping idea is less attractive than an electoral college but at least DD declared during the fight over the right of members to elect the party leader. In any case it has to be hoped that we won't be electing another leader for many years..."
That was the final question and the final answers. I hope you know more than you did at 9am about the candidates... and my biases. I tried to pose questions that hadn't been asked elsewhere. I'm only sorry Woman's Hour's 'briefs or boxers' question trumped all of mine!
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